Spring 2019: Get Ready to Teach on Canvas

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Canvas sneaker In Spring 2019, almost all undergraduate courses will be on Canvas. While the majority of graduate courses will remain on Blackboard, there will be some exceptions in the Counseling Psychology program. If you are unsure if you are teaching on Canvas, please check here.

Logging In

If you are teaching on Canvas this spring, you should already have an account. To log into Canvas, go to our Canvas Welcome page and follow in the directions. If you have issues logging in or accessing your password, please contact the HNU IT Helpdesk.

Training

At a minimum, all faculty teaching in Canvas this spring should achieve Fundamentals 2 level of proficiency in Canvas. This means you've attended at least two training workshops or consultations, or completed our online Down and Dirty Canvas course and at least one training or consultation. For faculty teaching hybrid, online, flipped, or web-enhanced courses, we recommend completing our Canvas Certification course or setting up additional consultations with CETL instructional design staff. Sign up for all training options on our Canvas training page.

Spring Course Shells

Spring 2019 Canvas Course Shells (i.e. empty course sites) are now available and should show up in your Canvas Dashboard. Your course shell name will follow the naming conventions we used in Blackboard, for example, 18FS BIOL 115 - Advanced Human Physiology. You will also see a Sandbox course for testing out Canvas and one or more training courses in your Dashboard.

Copy Content from Your Sandbox or Development Course

If you have been working in a Canvas sandbox, development, or test course site, you can copy or import your content into your official course shell. Here's a guide that shows you how. You can also check out this video (watch from the 1:10 - 2:16 min).

Cross-List Courses (a.k.a. Merge Courses)

If you need to combine two or more sections or cross-listed courses, rather than requesting a course merge through IT, you can now do it yourself using the cross-list feature in Canvas. Make sure you do this before importing or building course content in the course shells you want to combine. Here's a guide that shows you how. You can also check out this video. If you need assistance with this process, please call the Canvas 24/7 helpline at 877-404-7004.

Student Enrollment

We are currently enrolling students in Spring Canvas courses (please note that students cannot see Canvas course sites until they are published by the instructor - see below). By the end of November, we will send out email announcements introducing students to Canvas and asking them to create their login credentials. We'll let you know when this happens. Please wait to send out your own student announcements through Canvas until these initial emails have been sent.

Publishing Your Canvas Course Site

Canvas course shells are always in an unpublished state when they are created. This gives you time to build out your course site and add content before students gain access. As the instructor, you must publish your course site no later than the first day of class in order to make it accessible to your students. Learn how to publish your course in this guide.

Importing Content from Blackboard

Before importing any content from Blackboard, we highly recommend completing basic (Fundamentals 2 level) training. If you import your Blackboard course wholesale, your content will be dumped into Canvas in a disorderly fashion and without proper training, you won't know how to reorganize it. You can learn more about importing content in our Blackboard to Canvas tutorial.

Questions and Support

If you are having problems locating your course or logging into Canvas, contact the HNU IT Helpdesk.
For questions about training on Canvas, or other ed-tech tools contact CETL.
If you have questions about copying content to your course shell, cross-listing your course, or other questions about using specific features in Canvas, please contact Canvas's fabulous 24/7/365 support at 877-404-7004. A Canvas support technician will walk you through the process. You can reach Canvas support anytime by clicking on the Help link in Canvas's global navigation bar.

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Spring 2019: Get Ready to Teach on Canvas